


Weathering the Storm

by Nebula5030



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Cute, Dragons, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Thunderstorms, Tooth Rotting Fluff, Welsh mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 22:17:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17568959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebula5030/pseuds/Nebula5030
Summary: When Merlin gets held up at work during a thunderstorm, he calls up a friend to check on his astrophobic dragon:The one person who is free that night - Gwaine.





	Weathering the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Holy frick this is my fiftieth work on AO3
> 
> Thanks to VentiMocha for the idea. You don't have an AO3 but I hope you see this <3

Gwaine made it to his car, shutting himself inside the doors just as lightning flashed across the sky. He glanced up with a scowl; he’d known this storm was coming, but he’d still been hoping to make it home before it had hit.

After all, there was a TV dinner and a bottle of beer at home with his name on it.

Just as he began to finger through his keys to find the one to his car, he felt a buzz in his pocket. He pulled out his phone to see what it was, and blinked in surprise. Merlin was calling him?

But without wasting another moment, Gwaine answered. “Hello?”

 _“Gwaine!”_ Merlin exclaimed immediately – and loudly, Gwaine pulling the phone away from his ear with a cringe. _“I’m so glad you picked up!”_

“Can’t ignore you, Merlin,” Gwaine responded lightly, though it immediately turned to concern. “Everything alright?”

_“Are you free tonight?”_

While Gwaine always loved hearing that question (especially when it was Merlin asking) Merlin sounded frantic, desperate -  _f_ _ar_ from the usual way someone sounded when asking that. “Yeah, I just got off.”

 _“Oh, good!”_ Gwaine heard Merlin breathe a sigh of relief. _“Can you do m_ _e_ _a favor?”_

“Anything for you, mate.”

 _“_ _Well, I’m being held up here at work, and I can’t get home anytime soon,_ _I wouldn’t call if it weren’t an emergency,_ _but_ _Aithusa’s_ terrified _of storms, and I’ve never left her_ _home al_ _one_ _during one. My parents are out of town and Morgana’s busy,_ _and I’m really worried_ _–”_

“Merlin, _Merlin_ ,” Gwaine interrupted, causing Merlin to cease his nervous rambling. “You want me to go check on her?”

_“Can you? Please?”_

Now, most people went for normal things, like cats or dogs, or maybe a chinchilla if you were adventurous. But Merlin? No – _Merlin_ had to go and get a _dragon._

… admittedly Gwaine knew that wasn’t how it worked (something about dragonkeeping being hereditary), but he still couldn’t deny that a cat would have been much easier, if the scorch marks decorating Merlin’s flat were anything to go by.

Did Gwaine even _know_ how to take care of a _dragon?_

But this was Merlin, and Gwaine knew from experience that Merlin would never have asked for help unless he had really needed it.

“Yeah, yeah I can. I’ll head straight to your place,” Gwaine responded, already putting his keys in the ignition and planning how he was going to get there.

 _“Oh, thank you thank you!”_ Merlin exclaimed. _“_ _I wouldn’t call if this weren’t an emergency, but I thought I’d be home tonight but something came up –”_

“Merlin,” Gwaine said calmly. “Don’t worry. Your dragon’s in good hands. Just tell me where you keep your spare key and I’m all set.”

Guess that TV dinner and beer was just going to have to wait.

~

Gwaine made his way to the entrance to Merlin’s flat, finding the spare key exactly where Merlin said he had hidden it. (In a _f_ _lowerpot?_ Really, Merlin? _Really?_ _)_ He slipped it into the lock, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. It was dark, none of the lights having been turned on and all natural light blocked by the thick cloud coverage.

As if it weren’t already ominous enough, lightning flashed outside, the resulting thunder rumbling through the flat.

“Aithusa?” he called as he shut the door behind him. He flicked on a light, and glanced around. “Aithusa?”

Gwaine walked around the flat, keeping his eyes open for the small white dragon. She wasn’t hanging out in any of her normal spots, and Gwaine frowned, a line appearing between his brows. Merlin had said she was here, where was she? “Aithusa?”

Another roll of thunder passed over the building then, loud and unexpected. As it dissipated, with the echoes rebounding off the nearby buildings and causing the thunder to seemingly last much longer, Gwaine heard another noise.

A whimper.

He turned towards the living room, and glanced around again as he walked in. He called Aithusa’s name once more, this time being much more careful to listen for a response.

Then, at the edges of his hearing, he heard it: a sound that could only be described as muffled crying, coming from somewhere down by his feet.

Gwaine got on his hands and knees, and bent so he was looking under the beaten, old couch. Then he smiled as he flicked his hair out of his face. “Hey, Aithusa,” he greeted.

The small dragon stared at him from where she had been curled underneath the couch, her blue eyes wide and terrified as they met Gwaine’s.

Aithusa had met Gwaine before, certainly, but never without Merlin around. The dragon usually elected to simply sit on Merlin’s shoulders or in one of her usual hang out spots and just watch Gwaine impassively, not reacting to anything he said or did.

Her expression was far from impassive now.

Gwaine slowly put a hand under the couch, appealing to Aithusa. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay under there. Do you want to come on out now?”

Aithusa blinked at Gwaine but said nothing. Was she talking yet? Gwaine wasn’t sure – he knew most dragons began to speak at _some_ point but didn’t know enough to know whether Aithusa was old enough to.

They stayed like that for a moment, simply staring at the other with Gwaine wondering how best to coax her to come on out. Food? He could try food.

… what did dragons even _eat?_

Another loud crash of thunder sounded, and Aithusa’s eyes widened in terror, before she curled in tighter on herself and whimpered more, shaking in fright.

Gwaine let out a sigh, his eyes softening. “C’mon then,” he murmured, reaching his hands under the couch to try and pull her out.

Aithusa jerked away at his touch and growled at him, baring her sharp teeth at Gwaine.

Gwaine frowned, slightly annoyed. “Ah, c’mon now, don’t be like that; Merlin asked me to come, you know.”

At the mention of Merlin, Aithusa stopped growling and her expression turned more considering, and she began looking over Gwaine as if thinking.

She didn’t do it for very long, however, as another crash shook the flat. Aithusa started, scared once more, but then to Gwaine’s shock, she leapt out from under the couch to his chest, before clinging to his shirt with her claws.

Gwaine blinked at her. “Guess that works,” he muttered, taking a hand and cradling her against his chest as he pushed himself back up with his other.

She was shaking violently, her eyes screwed shut in terror, and Gwaine began to gently shush her and stroke her head.

“How do you calm down a baby dragon?” Gwaine muttered to himself. “Merlin might have been slightly more helpful in telling me how to do that.”

He sat on the couch, gently bouncing and shushing her as one might do for an infant. Baby dragons weren’t too different from baby humans, right?

He glanced around and spotted a blanket draped over the back of the couch. He grabbed it and made a small nest on his lap, before lowering Aithusa down to it.

Aithusa looked up at Gwaine and blinked, before turning and rubbing her head against the fabric with a pleased rumble.

Gwaine smiled. “You like that, eh?”

Aithusa chirped, before wiggling slightly and adjusting herself.

Gwaine chuckled, watching Aithusa in fondness.

Aithusa looked up at him again… smiling? Was she smiling?

But then lighting flashed outside, and the resulting crash rumbled through the apartment.

Aithusa started, before jumping up and clinging to Gwaine’s shirt again.

“You have some – _urg_ _h_ _–_ some sharp claws don’t you, little Aithusa?”

Aithusa didn’t respond, still only whimpering against Gwaine’s shirt.

“Alright, alright, shh shh shh,” Gwaine said gently as he extracted her claws from his shirt and gently lowered her to the nest of blankets once more, rubbing her head with one hand as she shook.

He glanced around again, brow furled as he wondered what to try. There was a pile of books on Merlin’s side table, and Gwaine reached to grab the one on top.

Would reading to her calm her down?

 _“The Mabinogion,_ eh?” Gwaine said, reading the title. He’d certainly heard _of_ the story, Merlin being Welsh and attempting to teach Gwaine the language in exchange for lessons on Gaelige (though, at the rate Merlin was learning, Gwaine swore Merlin would soon be more fluent than he – he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that yet), but Gwaine hadn’t had the opportunity to actually sit down and _read_ it yet.

Guess now was a good a time as any.

And with that, Gwaine cracked open the cover.

“Why does it have such a long introduction? You don’t need this much,” Gwaine grumbled in annoyance, flipping past a large chunk of the beginning of the book to get to where the story actually began. “Ah, here we go.” To this, Gwaine cleared his throat and began to read aloud. _“Pwyll Prince of Dyved was lord of the seven Cantrevs of Dyved; and once upon a time he was at Narberth, his chief palace, and he was minded to go and hunt, and the part of his dominions in which it pleased him to hunt was Glyn Cuc_ _h.”_

Aithusa looked up at Gwaine, her expression puzzled, but no longer nearly as frightened.

Gwaine took this as encouragement and continued.

_“So he set forth from Narbeth that night, and went as far as Llwyn Diarwyd. And that night he tarried there, and early on the morrow he rose and came to Glyn Cuch, when he let loose the dogs in the wood, and sounded the horn, and began the chase.”_

There was another crash of thunder then, and Aithusa jumped, before cowering against Gwaine once more. Gwaine simply took the hand that wasn’t holding the book and rubbed her head to comfort her, not slowing in his reading at all. _“And as he followed the dogs, he lost his companions; and whilst he listened to the hounds, he heard the cry of other hounds, a cry different from his own, and coming in the opposite direction.”_

That seemed to do the trick, and Aithusa relaxed soon enough, shifting once more and letting out a soft chirp as she curled further into Gwaine’s shirt.

And Gwaine smiled, his voice carrying over the rumbles of thunder in the distance as he continued to read to her long into the night.

~

Later than night, long after the storm had passed, Merlin hesitated in front of his door, almost nervous to go in. He had seen Gwaine’s car outside (he’d parked right next to it, actually) so he knew his friend was still here, but what if Gwaine hadn’t been able to calm her down? What if Aithusa had somehow fled the flat and Gwaine was out looking for her right now?

What if something had gone horribly wrong?

What if she had _died_ of _fright?_

… okay, that last possibility was unlikely, Merlin reminded himself with an eyeroll at his own anxiousness, and Merlin was fairly certain Gwaine would have called him if there’d been a problem.

The door was unlocked when he reached it, Merlin frowning as he realized Gwaine must have forgotten to lock it _(again),_ and he stepped in to find the lights on but no noise in the flat.

“Gwaine?” Merlin called.

“Living room!” he heard Gwaine respond.

Merlin set down his stuff, before heading to where Gwaine had called from. He turned the corner and – stopped.

Gwaine was sitting on the couch, reading a book that was in one hand with his other arm across the back of the couch and a some blankets on his lap.

Merlin glanced around, his brow furling. “Where’s Aithusa?”

To this, Gwaine put a finger to his lips before pointing to the bundle of blankets on his lap. Merlin stepped in, and, sure enough, he could see Aithusa’s sleeping head poking out of the blankets and could hear her breathing, low and even.

“She fell asleep on my lap,” Gwaine explained softly as Merlin sat on the couch next to him. “I didn’t want to bother her by getting up.”

Merlin smiled at Aithusa, then looked up at Gwaine. “How’d it go?”

Gwaine let out a breath. “Not too bad. She was hiding under the couch when I arrived, so it took some time to find her, and it took even longer for me to convince her to come out.”

Merlin nodded, before smiling fondly at Aithusa. “She seems calm enough now. What’d you do?”

To this, Gwaine flashed Merlin the cover of the book. “Read to her.”

“That it? Really?”

Gwaine simply grinned. “I wouldn’t expect you of all people to doubt the power of my charm, Merlin.”

Merlin rolled his eyes, but his lip was quirked as he tried not to let his amusement show.

“I admit, I didn’t feed her,” Gwaine said, glancing down at Aithusa with a guilty look. “I don’t know what dragons eat.”

“Dragons don’t eat all that much,” Merlin replied. “They mostly just live off the natural magic in the air.”

Gwaine looked impressed. “Really?”

Merlin nodded with a smile.

“Huh,” Gwaine glanced down at Aithusa, expression still impressed. “The more you know.”

“Speaking of food, do you want something?” Merlin asked, pushing himself up. “I can order take-out, if you want. Least I can do.”

“Food would be _great_ _.”_

Gwaine remained trapped on the couch for only a little longer. Once the take-out had arrived, Merlin came over and gently picked Aithusa up – evidently having mastered the art of picking up a sleeping dragon and keeping her that way; don’t disturb a sleeping dragon indeed– before setting her down on one of the dog beds Merlin had bought for her.

After eating dinner– which was much better than the TV dinner Gwaine had been looking forward to earlier – Merlin began to walk out with Gwaine.

“Thanks for coming, Gwaine, you have no idea how much this meant to me.”

Gwaine smiled. “No problem. I’m glad I could help.”

Merlin gave him another smile and opened the door so Gwaine could head home. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later then.”

Gwaine smiled, “I guess so.” He stepped out, before turning back.

“You know, Merlin,” Gwaine started. He hesitated, but then said, “If you, you know, if you need someone to watch her again, I wouldn’t mind. I’ve… I’ve kind of grown fond of her, a bit.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Have you?”

“Well when you need to cuddle with someone who’s terrified of a storm you tend to form an attachment, I think.”

Merlin smiled, but then it fell a bit. Merlin shifted awkwardly. “Well, Gwaine, I hate to ask you to do it again so soon but according to the weather report, there’s going to be another storm tomorrow. I have somewhere I need to be, and I was planning on taking Aithusa with me, but if you’re free…?”

Gwaine glanced at Aithusa – still asleep in her bed in the back of Merlin's house – but then he met Merlin’s face and smiled.

“I’ll be here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Mabinogion excerpts from <https://archive.org/stream/mabinogion00schrgoog/mabinogion00schrgoog_djvu.txt>


End file.
